RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Thursday, July 9th, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) expressed concern over the spread of the coronavirus pandemic during a meeting of member states. According to the UN health agency, cases are still uncontrolled in most countries.
“In most parts of the world, the virus is not under control, it is getting worse,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the W.H.O. Director-General. “Over 544,000 lives have been lost. The pandemic is still accelerating.”
Almost 12 million coronavirus cases have been reported since the pandemic began. According to the W.H.O., at least half of all cases have been recorded over the past six weeks – every seven days, the world recorded one million new cases of the disease.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has left no country untouched. It has humiliated us all,” said Tedros Adhanom.
Also during the meeting, the W.H.O. announced the creation of an independent group to analyze the evolution of the pandemic and member countries’ response against the coronavirus. The group will be co-chaired by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
‘We’ve lost many health professionals’
The head of the UN health agency lamented the thousands of deaths from the pandemic and showed solidarity with frontline workers in the fight against the coronavirus.
The organization also expressed concern about existing vaccines and the lack of medications in the countries most affected by the pandemic.
“Hundreds of millions of children are at risk of losing routine vaccines for tuberculosis, pneumonia, measles, polio, cholera, diphtheria, and other diseases,” alerted Tedros Adhanom. “Many countries are low on HIV medication.”
He stressed that universal health coverage is essential for collective safety: “Health for all, which has been the W.H.O. hallmark for over 70 years, is the answer.”
The Director-General also recalled that refugees are one of the most vulnerable groups to the pandemic, and lamented that it has increased social inequalities. “Covid-19 can push them [the refugees] to the edge of the abyss,” he said.
Airborne transmission
On Tuesday, July 7th, the WHO recognized that the coronavirus can be transmitted through the air, not only through contact with droplets expelled by infected people, as it had previously been claiming.
The W.H.O. technical leader for infection prevention and control, Benedetta Allegranzi, acknowledged that new evidence of this airborne transmission risk is emerging, but stated that it is not definitive and that such evidence has yet to be compiled and interpreted.
Allegranzi pointed out that the W.H.O. already recommends that people avoid enclosed and crowded environments, keep their distance, and wear masks in certain situations.
Source: G1